White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller (above) now says the federal agents who shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti “may not have been following” protocol.
Miller Suggests Federal Agents May Have Diverted From ‘Protocol’ Before Pretti Shooting www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u…
— Timothy McBride (@mcbridetd.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s homeland security policy, said in a statement (via NOTUS):
“The initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground.”
“The White House provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors.
“We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol.”
Within hours of the deadly shooting, Miller characterized the 37-year-old Veterans Administration nurse as a “domestic terrorist” and an “assassin” who had “tried to murder federal agents,” without providing evidence.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed that language saying Pretti had brandished a gun and appeared intent on inflicting “maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
She’s since tried to deflect direct responsibility for those statements. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” Noem told a person who relayed her remarks to Axios.
A new Times video analysis breaks down the flawed and lethal actions by federal agents in the killing of Alex Pretti. Watch here. https://t.co/Vusi1B3QxY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 27, 2026
But an extensive analysis of multiple videos of the shooting by the New York Times (and other outlets) contradicted those accounts. The analysis shows that Pretti was holding a phone — not a gun — when federal agents pinned him to the ground before shooting him.
A preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s internal watchdog office also did not say that Mr. Pretti had brandished a gun.
In related news, the New York Times reports the two Border Patrol agents who shot Pretti were put on administrative leave on Saturday.
Breaking News: The two federal agents who opened fire on Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs nurse, in Minneapolis on Saturday have been placed on leave, a U.S. official said. https://t.co/5BnyLfIVHx
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 28, 2026
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